Month 2

Our sweet Ben is two months old today...it is just unbelievable how fast time passes! I thought it would be fun to start a running comparison of Ben's stats compared to Owen's. Here goes:

Owen at Birth: 7 lbs 12 oz, 20"

Ben at Birth: 8 lbs 9 oz, 21"

Owen at 1 Month: 9 lbs 5 oz, 22"

Ben at 1 Month: 10 lbs 5.5 oz, 22"

Owen at 2 Months: 12 lbs 14 oz, 24.5"

Ben at 2 Months: 13 lbs 1.5 oz, 24"

He is sleeping soundly through the night for an average of 7-8 hours, with the occasional 10 hour night thrown in here and there. He is breastfeeding like a champ but has decided he doesn't like taking formula. I'm not too concerned about it at this point, as we already have a small stash of pumped milk in the freezer. He loves to look at and hold his hands and he sucks on his fingers sometimes when he's hungry. He also gives big crooked Elvis smiles when he's happy and coos when he gets excited. I love that he recognizes my face and voice now-he will turn his head to find me and smile when he sees me. What a heartwarming sight that is! We've been trying tummy time, but he usually falls asleep. Guess he's just not in any hurry to roll over. If I had the option to take a nap or work out, I'd choose the nap too, I think! He still has fuzzy auburn hair, dark blue eyes, and huge chubby cheeks. In other words, he's GORGEOUS! :) Ben's second month has been full of travel and time with family. He has been such a beautiful addition to our lives, and he makes every day sweeter than the day before.

We came, we saw, we ATE!

Well, tonight we are back in Nashville after a wonderful week in South Carolina. I can't even express how nice it was to stay busy visiting with family and friends, watching movies in Granddaddy's theater room, and eating Gi Gi's yummy FUDGE SAUCE! :) Here's a recap of our week:

First things first, Ben met his Granddaddy! Mr. Richard is a guy's guy--a hunter, hiker, boater, etc. I know the boys will have so many fun adventures with their Granddaddy!

We spent Tuesday night celebrating Gi Gi and Uncle Steve's birthdays. Ben got to meet Uncle Steve (who cooked us all a yummy dinner), Aunt Carolyn, Aunt Lori, Lori's fiance Tim, and our cousins Ana, Natalie, and Ryan. Wednesday and Thursday we spent time around Anderson and just relaxing at the house. Owen really loved watching movies upstairs on the big screen. He especially loved the Chronicles of Narnia.

On Friday, Owen stayed in Anderson while Ben and I drove over to Charleston for a weekend with my sister and her husband, Will. Friday night we were both pretty exhausted, so we decided to stay home and just catch up. She and Will bought a house last fall and it is just so cute. I loved looking around at all her neat stuff. She inspired me to get to work displaying more photos...since we have moved so many times, ours have stayed boxed up. I feel a little redecoration coming soon! Saturday and Sunday we spent all day going to the Farmer's Market and all sorts of cute vintage and thrift stores.

The highlight of the weekend for me was Saturday night. We went to Folly Beach for a laid back pizza dinner with Miriam's sweet and funny friend Jordan. Then we walked down to the pier to look at the moon reflected off the ocean waves. It was so beautiful; I thought it was neat/sad that at that moment, Richie and I were literally across the continent from each other. My spirits were lifted, though, when Miriam presented Ben and me with a special award for being the first Griffins to visit the newlyweds in their new house! The trophy is currently displayed in Ben's room. It just love it!

On Monday, we headed back to Anderson for a big "Meet Ben" dinner with lots of extended family and friends. We got to see so many sweet people, and I was overwhelmed once again by how much love the Shaws express, both in their actions and their words. I am so lucky to have married a man with such an amazing family! Owen got to play again with Cousin Emma. These two are double trouble and just so cute together. He really didn't want her to go home that night and I don't think she wanted to leave either. I'm glad he's got a cousin close in age to grow up with, even if we do live far away.

And now it is Tuesday, and we are home in Nashville again. Things are going very well for the guys in L.A., which is so exciting and yet very difficult, as we all miss Richie so much. He will be home soon, though, so I am making the most of my maternity leave and so far, so GREAT!

The Shaws come to Nashville!

Gi Gi has arrived, and she brought some very special folks with her! Nana, Papa, and Uncle Bob came to town for Papa and Bob to rehearse and perform with a new gospel quartet they are involved with. Nana got some big, sweet smiles from Ben, and Owen was very excited to see his great-grandparents again!

During the day, we journeyed up to Hendersonville to swim at the hotel pool. It was a salt water pool, which I've always heard about but never experienced for myself. Well now I see what the fuss is all about. It was so nice to spend hours in the water and not feel dried out and smell like bleach at the end of the day! Then on Saturday we ventured out to the East Nashville Tomato Art Festival. It was hot as blazes and we only lasted a little while, but it is always nice to get out and about in the neighborhood. And, if I do say so myself, these two guys were the cutest little boys around!

Yesterday was the big day! Papa and Bob's quartet performed in Franklin, so we loaded up and headed south for the afternoon. I was impressed that Owen and Ben lasted through half of the performance before a dirty diaper (Ben) and a big burst of energy and a need to urinate in the bushes (Owen-he just loves using the bathroom outside!) called us away. We were able to listen to the rest of the performance from a back room. Both Papa and Bob have beautiful voices, and at the end of each song, Owen would clap wildly with a huge grin on his face. It's wonderful and slightly depressing to be related to so many incredibly talented people!

Tomorrow, we will all load up and head to Anderson to celebrate Gi Gi's birthday and introduce Ben to Granddaddy and the whole Shaw clan. It's a 6 hour trip, which has me a little nervous, but I'm up for the challenge and looking forward to seeing everyone. Wish us luck!

Just the three of us...

Last Sunday, Richie flew to L.A. to work with his new music project, Street Corner Symphony. I've had mixed emotions about this for a while now. On one hand, the opportunity he has with SCS is truly once in a lifetime. It's something that we are excited to share publicly later on when the time is right. But suffice it to say, it would have been impossible for me to ask him not to pursue this. On the other hand, the thought of being in Nashville, away from family, alone with a 4.5 year old and a 6 week old for over a month was extremely daunting. How would I deal with the demands of running a household for so long by myself, on top of the physical and emotional strain of missing my husband?

Well, we're only a few days in, and I am feeling really optimistic! So what have we been up to?

Soaking up some rays...

Enjoying Ben as he learns and grows...

Hanging out with our best pals...

Tomorrow, Gi Gi will be arriving, and I think we will all appreciate having another adult in the house! We have a fun couple of weeks planned, including a trip to South Carolina. I think it's safe to say that, despite things not being exactly as I had envisioned them 9 months ago, this is shaping up to be one heck of a maternity leave!

Life's a beach!

We just returned from our annual Griffin beach trip, and I think we all agree that this was the best one yet! I was extremely anxious about traveling so far (8 hours, including stops) with a 4 year old AND a 4 week old, but my fears were quickly put to rest thanks to 3 things: our awesomely spacious van WITH a DVD player, Owen's Nintendo Gameboy, and my breast pump. Owen sat on the back seat and stayed occupied for hours with episodes of Looney Tunes and Word World, mixed occasionally with Zelda or Rad and Bad on his Gameboy. Ben slept really well in his car seat and took bottles of freshly pumped milk at nursing time. We only had to stop a couple of times for meals, diaper changes, and bathroom breaks. What a relief! I don't know how my parents survived lugging the 3 of us around without the "modern conveniences" of DVD players and portable game systems. :)

Owen hands-down had the best time of anyone...he swam from the time he woke up until it was dark outside. He made several buddies at the pool and had a blast playing with his uncles and aunt too. Richie and I took shifts staying inside with Ben--in the afternoon it was cool enough in the shade to bring him outside, but the mornings were just too hot. One of our best days was the 28th, which was Ben's 1 month birthday. We started the day with a visit to the zoo, where Owen got to hold a baby kangaroo like he did last year. He was very inquisitive and much more at ease this time around. He really wanted to see the kangaroo's pouch. :) Afterwards we had a delicious lunch at Lulu's, which is on the bay and is basically one huge covered deck with lots of fans. We came back to the condo and spent some time at the beach. After all the news coverage of the oil spill in the Gulf, it was a relief to see that the beach was still beautiful and clean. We saw some small tar balls, but nothing like what I had imagined. Following dinner, we went to the Wharf to ride the humongous ferris wheel, which is another annual tradition that Owen just loves. Then we ended our day with some Dippin Dots. Days don't get much better than that!

One Owen funny from our trip:
- One night the "big kids" went to a movie while my parents watched Owen and Ben. I got a text from my mother saying that Owen asked her if she was going to feed Ben with her boob. :)

Here are a few pictures of our week: